Italian Espresso

After experiencing the Italian Espresso a little while ago, I thought I would post some advice for future travellers.... <BR><BR>I was travelling by myself, so thought I would share a room with someone I didn't know. What could be that harm in that I thought to myself... I might make a lifelong friend... or just someone in a similar position that I could share the experience. <BR><BR>This was not to be the case... I got stuck with an angry chain smoking Russian! This bird who I had to share my room with was extremely rude, smoked in the hotel room before you went to bed, used my toiletries and then complained they weren't good enough for her high standards. Not the most complimentary person in the world... So to conclude my little rant there... don't share a room with someone you don't know. You might end up with a nightmare for a room mate like I did and not be able to do anything about it. Pay the extra to have a room to yourself!<BR><BR>The next point... the hotels were not the most luxurious in the world. European hotels are a totally different standard to what you would recieve in Australia, New Zealand and the US. The hotels on this trip a quite small. The rooms were very compact as well as the bathrooms. Most of the hotels are very old and have been around for decades. A lot did not have lifts. So be prepared to carry your suitcases up the stairs. Also, the hotels were not located close to the centre of town. There were very little convenience stores and restaurants close to the hotels... if any.<BR><BR>The coach we travelled on was very nice and a good ammount of leg room. One day we did about 8 hours of travelling and were able to watch a movie on the way. The tour directors are really good in entertaining and informing about the history and sights of the country. <BR><BR>One thing I would let people know is too get ready to experience the Italian toilets while your travelling. Petrol stations and rest stops are quite dirty. The majority of them don't have toilet seats.. so you have to hover over the bowl. Not very nice for girls! I recomend taking some of that hand sanitiser stuff with you. Oh and something els you might like to know... sometimes there is a fee to go to the loo! Up to 2 euro I paid in some places! <BR><BR>Make sure you take your walking shoes on tour with you. Make sure they are nice and comfy, because the roads and paths in Europe are pretty bumpy and uneven. Make sure you take enough undies etc with you.. because there isn't a lot of time to do any washing on tour. You really only spend 1 or 2 nights in a hotel.<BR><BR>Oooh.. one other thing.. I would recomend arriving a night early to get over the jet lag. Flying takes a lot out of you... and you want to be bright and bushy tailed for the start of your tour!<BR><BR>I hope these words of wisdom helped...! Have a great trip! <img src="http://connect.contiki.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smiler" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::)-->

I would like to add the “tipping policy”.The tour manager and driver expects a tip. This caused alot of confusion on my trip since the recommend amount most of us thought was way to high. We were all put in a bad sitution since we really liked both of them- be prepared to TIP.Side note: In many Italian Rest- the tip is included. Pay attention to your bill.

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I recently did a contiki tour and the tip for the tour manager and bus driver was only $2 Euro a day each. It’s not that much and if you read your contiki brochure it’s on there before you leave anyway. If you don’t like the service you don’t have to tip that amount.